Impoliteness on Twitter by Malaysians

Authors

  • Wun Chiew Pung
  • Siti Nur Amira Mohd Faizal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33736/tur.5476.2023

Keywords:

impoliteness, Malaysian, Twitter

Abstract

This study investigates impoliteness on Twitter in the context of Malaysian users. The objectives of the study are to examine the impoliteness strategies and triggers of impoliteness found in tweet replies on tweets on issues related to COVID-19. The data consist of 440 tweet replies on COVID-19, posted from May 2020 to May 2021 which contain elements of impoliteness. The study uses Culpeper’s (2005) impoliteness model and Culpeper’s (2011) framework for examining impoliteness triggers. The study is motivated by the dearth of studies on impoliteness on Twitter focusing on Malaysian users. The findings show that four types of impoliteness strategies are used in the tweet replies: bald-on record impoliteness, positive impoliteness, negative impoliteness, and sarcasm or mock impoliteness. The most dominant type of impoliteness strategy is positive impoliteness, while bald-on record impoliteness is the least employed impoliteness strategy. Pointed criticism is found to be the most often occurring impoliteness trigger in the study, followed by insult, negative expressive, and challenging or unpalatable question and/or presupposition. The findings suggest culture and the communication platform may play a role in the use of impoliteness strategies and impoliteness triggers in the tweets.

 

 

 

Author Biography

Siti Nur Amira Mohd Faizal

 

 

References

Akmal, N. (2018). Online animosity: Impoliteness strategies and triggers of hostility in a social networking site in Brunei. Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 18, 71-84.

Alias, A., & Yahaya, M. Q. A. (2019). Impoliteness strategies used by Malaysian netizens in response to the music videos of drag queens. International Journal of Social Science Research, 1(2), 44-59.

Bousfield, D. 2008. Impoliteness in the struggle for power. In D. Bousfield, & M. Locher (Eds.), Impoliteness in language: Studies on its interplay with power in theory and practice (Vol. 21) (pp. 127–153). Walter de Gruyter.

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110208344

Colaco, L., Vijayarajoo, A. R., & Teoh, M. L. (2021). The use of impoliteness strategies in online feedback relating to a general election in media. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(9), 107-121.

https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i9/10975

Culpeper, J. (1996). Towards an anatomy of impoliteness. Journal of Pragmatics, 25(3), 349-367.

https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(95)00014-3

Culpeper, J. (2005). Impoliteness and entertainment in the television quiz show: “The Weakest Link’. Jounal of Politeness Research, Language, Behaviour, Culture, 1(1), 35-72.

https://doi.org/10.1515/jplr.2005.1.1.35

Culpeper, J. (2011). Impoliteness: Using language to cause offence. Cambridge University Press.

https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511975752

Erza, S., & Hamzah. (2018). Impoliteness used by haters on Instagram comments of male-female entertainers. E-Journal of English Language & Literature, 7(1), 184-195.

Halim, S., A. (2015). Impoliteness strategies used in a politician’s Facebook. Universiti Malaya.

Hay, C. (2007). Why we hate politics. Polity Press.

Hofstede, G. (2003). Cultural dimensions. www.geert-hostede.com

Krishnan, M. (2018). Strategi ketidaksantunan bahasa dalam komen Malaysiakini. [Unpublished master thesis]. Universiti Malaya.

Kuang, C. H. (2002). ‘The implications of ‘lah’, ‘ah’, and ‘hah’ as used by some speakers in Malaysia’, Jurnal Bahasa Moden, 14, 133–54.

Rabab’ah, G., & Alali, N. (2020). Impoliteness in reader comments on the Al-Jazeera channel news website. Journal of Politeness Research, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2017-0028

Downloads

Published

2023-06-23

How to Cite

Pung, W. C., & Siti Nur Amira Mohd Faizal. (2023). Impoliteness on Twitter by Malaysians. Trends in Undergraduate Research, 6(1), f1–9. https://doi.org/10.33736/tur.5476.2023

Issue

Section

Language and Communication